Sneha Malepati is majoring in neuroscience, behavioral biology, and physics. This summer, she is researching neurodegenerative diseases. Specifically, Malepati uses metabolic labeling to track protein changes in various brain cell types in stroke and Alzheimer’s disease models.
Malepati began research in the fall of her junior year. After exploring many neuroscience topics in her classes, Malepati wanted to better understand how neurological diseases affect us on a cellular level. This interest played a huge role in the lab she joined and the selection of her current research project. To get involved, she first identified a research field that interested her and sought out researchers that were studying this field.
Reading scientific papers played a massive role in allowing her to find PIs (Principal Investigators) conducting research in areas of interest to her. PI and postdoc mentors have played a significant role in Malepati’s growth as a researcher, and she has found researching under their mentorship to be a rewarding experience.
Malepati contends that learning should be a hands-on process, and immersing herself in the research process has definitely allowed her to do just that. She is able not only to apply what she has learned in her neuroscience classes to her work in the lab but also to understand the complexities of brain functions by conducting experiments, thinking critically, and answering important research questions.
Malepati’s current goals are to become more proficient in the skills and techniques she has learned and continue learning and expanding her knowledge and skill sets. In the future, she hopes to share her findings with the greater scientific community by presenting at conferences.
Comments
Post a Comment